Run-out apparatus of ordnance



A. T. DAWSON AND G. T'..BUCKHAM.

RUN-OUT APPARATUS 0F ORDINANCE.

APPLICATION HLEDJ'Ull-Y 9,1919.

Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

2 S HEETSSHEET l A. T. DAWSON AND G. T. BUCKHAIVI.

RUN-OUT APPARATQJSOF QBDNANCE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 9.1919.

1 A37, 1 7%. Patenied Nov. 28, 1922.

2 $HEETSSHEET 2.

Patented Nov. 28, 1922,

TENT orrlcs.

ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON AND GEORGE THOMAS BUCKHAM, OF WESTMINSTER,

LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS TO VICKERS LIMITED, OF WESTMINSTER, ENG- LAND.

Application filed July 9, 1919. Serial No. 309,783.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Sir ARTHUR TREVOR DAwsoN, knight, and Sir GEORGE THOMAS BUCKHAM, knight, both subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing at Vickers House, Broadway, Westminster, in the county of London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to the Run-Out Apparatus of Ordnance, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ordnance run-out apparatus of the hydro-pneumatic type having a recuperator cylinder and an air reservoir provided with a floating piston for separating the liquid from the air, which piston has a rod protruding through the end wall of the reservoir so as to give, according to its osition, an indication of the quantity of liquid within the cylinder and reservoir.

According to the invention the portion of the gun cradle or other part contiguous to the end of the piston rod is provided with a cap which is of suflicient length to take the end of the rod when in its outermost position and which serves to protect the protruding portion of the rod from injury, the said'cap being formed with a slot or longitudinal opening through which the position of the end of the rod can be readily seen in order to determine whether the recuperator cylinder should be replenished with liquid.

The free or inoperative end of the runout or recuperator cylinder (i. e. the end remote from that through which the piston rod passes) is closed by a readily detachable cover comprising an obturating ring of suitable elastic material interposed between twodiscs, oneof which bears against the end of the cylinder and the other is drawn by suitable means towards the first mentioned disc whereby the obturatingring is compressed into a groove in the cylinder. In this manner the end of the cylinder is protected against the entry of dust and moisture, by a cover which can be with-- drawn straight out to the rear without a tool having to be used, this being very desirable in view of the restricted space around the cover.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, we will describe the same more fully with reference to the accompanying drawmgs in which Figure 1 is a horizontal section through the front portions of the gun cradle, the recoil and recuperator cylinders and the air reservoir,shewing a constructional form of the invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the front part of Fi'gurel.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, the section being taken through the rear parts of the gun cradle, the cylinders and the air reservoir,

Figure 4 is a side elevation of part of Figure 3 with the cradle shown in section.

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the detachable cover of Figure 4,

Figure 6 is an end view on an enlarged scale of the said detachable cover and Figure 7 is an enlarged view of a portion of- Figure 1. I

'A, A are the recoil and recuperator cylinders and A is the air reservoir, these cylinders and the reservoir being constituted by holes formed in a forging attached at its rear end to a lug A (Figure 3) on the gun. a, a are the recoil and recuperator pistons whose rods a", a are connected at their forward ends to the front cap B of the gun cradle B. a is the floating piston in the air reservoir and a is the rod of this piston which passes through a stuffing box a C is the aforesaid cap for receiving and protecting the protruding portion of the rod a and c is the slot formed therein through which the position of the end of the said rod can be readily seen in order to determine whether the recuperator cylinder should be replenished with liquid. In the example shewn the said protecting cap is constituted by a forward extension of the end cap B of the cradle.

. In order to reduce as far as possible the amount by which the rod or protrudes, the stufling box a through which this rod passes is situated some distance to the rear of the stufling boxes a a for the rods a a of the recoil and recuperator pistons. The adj ustable glands a, a, (4 of the three stuffing boxes are situated in line with each other transversel and the cradle has an opening 6 (Figure 1) for enabling these glands to be adjusted. This opening is closed by a hinged door 6 (Figure 2) or by a cover of any other desired construction. The relative cross sectional areas of the air reservoir and the recuperator cylinder are so chosen that the piston a moves only a small distance for a comparatively large loss of liquid so as to reduce the length of the aforesaid protecting cap 0.

D (Figure 3) is the aforesaid obturating ring of suitable elastic material and D D are the metal discs between which the said obturating ring is intended to be compressed and forced into a groove in the wall of the cylinder. The disc D bears against the end of the cylinder and the disc D has a rearwardly projecting stem 6Z2 which passes through the disc D and has pivoted thereto a cam. operating piece D which is in the form of a member bent as shown in Figure 6 to provide a convenient handle portion and also formed to provide two cams (Z (Z3 bearing against a washer d at the rear part of the disc D. This arrangement is such that when the handle portion of the cam operating piece D is moved downwards, the disc D is drawn by the action of the cams 6Z3, (Z towards the disc D to compress the obturating ring D into the groove in the cylinder and the said cam operating piece then passes over the dead centre as shown in Figure 4 so that it is resiliently held in the locking position.

E (see Figure 7 is a valve disposed at the front end of the recuperator cylinder A which valve is held on its seat by a spring 6 and is formed with small holes a, e the purpose of this valve, as is well understood, being to allow liquid to pass freely from the recuperator cylinder to the air reservoir during-recoil of the gun but to provide a restricted or throttled return of the liquid from the air reservoir to the recuperator cylinder during the run-out movement of the gun. This valve is formed with a forwardly projecting sleeve E surrounding the piston rod a and this sleeve is adapted to work in a recess E formed in a member E which is subjected to the pressure of the spring 6. This recess is supplied with liquid and constitutes a buffer additional to the spring 6 for preventing a too violent opening movement of the valve at the commencement of the recoil movement" of the gun. Sufiicient clearance is allowed between the outer surface of the sleeve E and the wall of the recess E to allow for a restricted passage of the liquid between these parts.

IV hat we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In ordnance run-out apparatus the combination with the run-out cylinder, of a readily detachable threadless closure, said closure comprising a pair of plates with an obturator ring clamped between them, at the free end of the cylinder.

2. In ordnance run-out apparatus of the hydropneumatic type, the combination with the run-out cylinder, of a readily detachable threadless closure for the free end of the cylinder said closure comprising a pair of plates with an obturator ring clamped between them.

3. In ordnance run-out apparatus, the combination with the run-out cylinder, of a detachable closure for the free end of said cylinder said closure comprising a ring of resilient material, two metal discs arranged one on each side of said ring and means for causing said. discs to compress the resilient ring into a groove in the wall of the cylinder and connected thereto without the aid of screw threads.

l. In ordnance run-out apparatus, the combination with the run-out cylinder, of a detachable closure for the free end of said cylinder, said closure comprising a ring of resilient material, a metal disc bearing against the end of the cylinder, a second metal disc between which and the first mentioned disc saidring is disposed and means for drawing said second disc towards the first disc to compress the resilient ring into a groove in the wall of the cylinder.

5. In ordnance runout apparatus, the combination with the runout cylinder, of

'adetachable closure for the free end of said cylinder, said closure comprising a ring of resilient material, a metal disc bearing against the end of the cylinder, a second metal disc between which and the first mentioned disc said ring is disposed, a stem in said second disc projecting through the firsti mentioned disc and a cam operating de vice carried by said stem and adapted to cooperate with the first mentioned disc for drawing said second disc towards the first disc to compress the resilient ring into a groove in the wall of the cylinder.

6. In ordnance run-out apparatus, the combination with the recuperator cylinder, of a spring controlled valve providing a free flow of liquid from said cylinder dur-. ing recoil but a restricted return of the liquid into the cylinder during run-out, and a dash-pot for preventing a too violent opening movement of said valve at the commencement of recoil.

7 In ordnance run-out apparatus, the combination with the recuperator cylinder, of a spring controlled valve providing a free flow of liquid from said cylinder during recoil but a restricted return of the liquid into the cylinder during run-out and a sleeve on said valve working in a recess containing liquid to provide a dash-pot for preventing a too violent opening movement of said valve at the commencement of re- 10 coil.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures. 

